Ghostly Figures in the Attic

Chapter 1

Chapter One: Midnight Horror

Ah-Cai woke up in the middle of the night needing to urinate, only to find his mother, who was sleeping beside him, gone... Before he could react, a pair of large hands covered his mouth, and he felt a wave of dizziness. Ah-Cai lost consciousness and fell into a coma...

Ah Cai broke free from a deep nightmare and instinctively reached for his mother's sleeping spot—empty! He sat up abruptly, rubbing his sleepy eyes and calling out softly, "Mom—"

There was no response.

Ah-Cai, sitting alone in the middle of the big bed, seemed like a lonely island.

Sometimes, when he woke up in the middle of the night needing to urinate, he would find his mother sitting alone at the round table in the center of the room, embroidering by lamplight. Ever since his father went to Xinjiang on a special mission, his mother had become taciturn and often got up in the middle of the night to do needlework.

Acai's father, Jin Pengju, is a geological technician who works in the field for long periods. Acai has been used to his father's absence since childhood. Two months ago, his father's unit was ordered to Xinjiang to explore rare metal mineral resources for national defense industry, and it is said that he will be staying in Xinjiang for a long time.

Ah Cai called out again, "Mom—"

Still no one answered.

A sliver of pale moonlight shone through the window; the vast night was utterly silent.

Ah Cai started to panic: Where did Mom go?

Ah Cai mustered his courage and deliberately coughed to bolster his spirits. Then he jumped off the bed, making a loud noise, and crept towards the bedroom door.

Just as he reached for the door leading to the hall, a creak sounded, and a blinding wave of light rushed in. The door swung open—automatic. Ah Cai's heart skipped a beat, and he froze, but he quickly forced himself to calm down, remembering his father's words: "Son, only the bold can amount to something!"

The living room was empty.

The kerosene lamp on the round table flickered from side to side, as if anxiously seeking something to rely on.

Under the lamplight, an unfinished embroidery piece lay haphazardly on the table, one corner dangling under the table corner as if about to collapse.

Suddenly, Ah Cai seemed to hear an unusual noise above his head, mixed with another strange sound, like a groan, but when he listened carefully, the sound quietly disappeared.

Above the main hall was an attic, and in a side room next to the main hall, a narrow staircase led down to the attic. It was said that a distant cousin once lived in that side room, but he suddenly died there, and since then, the room had been vacant and always locked. Peeking in from the outside, it was dark and seemed to exude an eerie atmosphere. That was in the first few years after Liberation; Ah Cai hadn't even been born yet.

Ah-Cai had overheard an elderly neighbor talking about his family's side room, saying it was a haunted house. Ah-Cai also asked his mother if it was true, but she scolded him, saying, "Nonsense, don't believe their nonsense."

There was another sound above his head. Ah Cai panicked and shouted, "Mei Fang—" He called out his mother's name. Usually, when Ah Cai was angry, he would deliberately call out his mother's name, but this time, he was pretending to be angry to bolster his courage, trying to prove his fearlessness and bravery.

As soon as he uttered the words, he felt a pang of regret, for it was said that one should not call out someone's name in the dead of night, lest a wandering ghost hear it and bring misfortune upon the person being called. As if to protect his mother, Ah Cai deliberately stomped his foot hard, attempting to scare away the wandering ghosts he imagined might be lurking nearby. Perhaps the stomp was too loud, for the kerosene lamp on the table went out.

Darkness suddenly pressed in from all directions, gripping his mind and body. As he tried to calm himself, he suddenly saw a strange, large black shadow stuck to the wall, and even more terrifying, there was movement behind him.

Oh no! Ah Cai suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were standing on a frost-covered blade. He thought to himself, "Could it be that I've really encountered a ghost?"

He suddenly remembered that there was a hidden drawer under the round table, in which was a brass replica pistol. It was a toy his father had given him, and his father had told him that demons and monsters were most afraid of guns.

Thinking this, Ah Cai had an idea. He calmed himself, quietly took half a step forward, approached the table, secretly opened the drawer, and reached for the pistol. The moment he touched it, he felt a sudden increase in strength. He gripped it tightly; although it felt heavier than before, he still deftly gripped it with both hands, raised his hand, turned, and in one fluid motion, closed his eyes, aimed at the target, and in his tension, pulled the trigger. Unexpectedly, the pistol made a muffled thud. Before he could understand what was happening, he was suddenly surrounded by a pair of large hands. One hand knocked the gun away, and the other covered his mouth. He felt a wave of dizziness, and then Ah Cai knew nothing more…

2

If we turn back time twenty years to the 1940s, during China's War of Resistance against Japan, the residential area where Ah Cai lived was devastated by Japanese bombers. Beneath this land, countless innocent souls were buried under the rubble, unable even to become wandering ghosts.

On the first anniversary of the devastating bombing, the surviving local people specially invited a Taoist priest with white hair, eyebrows, and flowing silver beard, who was highly accomplished in cultivation, from Mount Wutai to perform a large-scale collective salvation ceremony for the deceased. This ceremony aimed to help the shattered souls of those who died tragically under the Japanese bombs to be reunited and to find their own path to a fulfilling afterlife.

It was an extremely grand ceremony, and according to local elders, there were hundreds of sacrificial offerings used in the rituals.

It is said that at the beginning of the ritual of deliverance, when the Taoist priest opened his third eye to see the spirits of the dead underground, he discovered that there was a malevolent ghost mixed in with them. In his previous life, that person was a traitor and spy. It was he who sent the signal to attract the Japanese bombers. He probably did not expect that his Japanese masters only wanted to use him this last time and also bombed him.

The Taoist priest muttered incantations, "Sin, oh sin." Normally, the ritual of guiding the deceased to the afterlife is impartial, regardless of their social status or moral character; it's about paving the way for their rebirth and doesn't concern themselves with their past actions. However, moved by the profound suffering of the survivors, the priest secretly resolved to show no mercy to the traitor who aided and abetted the evildoer. He used a Taoist spell to imprison the demon underground, condemning it to eternal damnation. It is said that after casting the spell, the priest raised his hand and hurled the key to the large lock imprisoning the demon towards Mount Dai.

The day after the ceremony, the Taoist priest suddenly died in his bed; he died without illness.

Some say that the Taoist priest violated a rule of Heaven by doing so, leading to his death; he risked defying age-old customs for the sake of justice. It seems that even the rules set by Heaven can be inhumane.

Legend has it that the evil spirit was imprisoned in a cage less than two feet in diameter. If it weren't for a momentous event that occurred later, perhaps the evil spirit would have remained imprisoned indefinitely.

The sensational event was the death of Dai Li, the top Kuomintang military intelligence chief, in a plane crash. It was a rainy day when the plane carrying the notorious Dai Li, whose pen name was Yu Nong (meaning "rain farmer"), crashed into Dai Mountain near Chongqing. This event was imbued with a sense of fatalistic retribution—Yu Nong Dai Li died in a rainstorm on Dai Mountain.

Later, a rumor circulated among the people: it was said that after the demon Dai Li crashed his plane and became a ghost, his evil eyes spotted the key that the Taoist priest had thrown on Mount Dai. The ghost picked up the key, weighed it in his hand, and knew it was no ordinary object. By instinct, he found the place where the traitorous demon was imprisoned. After seeing the traitorous demon, Dai Li knew that one day, he could use that demon again.

On the eve of liberation, before the collapse of the Kuomintang regime, it carried out a frenzied persecution of progressive individuals. Dai Li, who had already become a ghost, did not forget to serve his former master. He took out a key and made a deal with that traitorous evil spirit, instructing him to harass the kind people and add to the atmosphere of terror in Chongqing.

It is said that during that period, many kind-hearted people died in their homes for no apparent reason.

Based on the timeline, Ah Cai's distant relative died suddenly in the attic around that time.

Ah-Cai didn't know this legend about ghosts. The adults didn't want to tell a child as young as him.

3

When Ah-Cai woke up, he saw his mother sitting at the head of the bed.

Mei Fang looked worried: "Child, you've been sleeping for three days and three nights!"

When Ah Cai tried to speak, Mei Fang quickly covered his lips with her finger, signaling him to be quiet. Mei Fang said, "Look, you were peeing in the living room again the other night." Mei Fang meant that Ah Cai's sleepwalking had flared up again.

Ah Cai had originally intended to tell her about what happened that night, but after his mother's hint, he began to have doubts: Could he really be having an episode? But as he recalled the details of those events, he couldn't help but look at his mother with a questioning gaze. What was going on? Ah Cai had heard that sleepwalking was a medical condition, and not just any ordinary one. It was said that something like this had happened at a medical university-affiliated hospital in Chongqing. A medical student was doing his internship there, and the hospital had an anatomy lab where he had interned. He suffered from sleepwalking, but no one knew, not even himself; only his parents and siblings knew.

Shortly after the student began his internship at the hospital, strange things started happening in the anatomy lab. During those days, the anatomy instructors discovered bite marks on the corpses used as teaching aids; sometimes, pieces of flesh had even been torn off. This was terrifying. Soon, rumors circulated both inside and outside the hospital that a ghoul had appeared there. These ghosts devoured human flesh, and after eating it, their yin energy became exceptionally strong, making them extremely dangerous. Exorcists found these ghouls particularly troublesome because they were so difficult to deal with. It is said that one exorcist, invited by a benefactor, went to perform a ritual to capture such a ghost, but not only did he fail, he nearly lost his own life, almost becoming a wronged ghost himself.

After several days of reports of the bodies being bitten, the rumors spread more and more wildly, causing panic both inside and outside the hospital. Some hospitalized patients were so frightened that they immediately transferred to other hospitals, which had a very bad impact on the hospital.

After some investigation, the hospital security officers determined that these incidents all occurred in the dead of night. However, they didn't know who the perpetrator was. It wasn't that they didn't want to know, but rather that they dared not find out. The rumors were terrifying; they claimed that ghouls possessed such abilities, capable of draining the life force of living people within a radius of several meters with a single breath.

The local public security department was alarmed, so they selected an extremely bold and resourceful criminal police expert and a group of well-trained police officers to form a special team. They went to the vicinity of the hospital's autopsy room and set up a hidden post under the cover of night to capture the perpetrator who was gnawing on corpses.

After several nights of surveillance, the special team finally caught up with the perpetrator on a dark and stormy night.

Strangely, the perpetrator wasn't acting suspiciously or furtively as people had said. Instead, he brazenly pulled out his keys from his pocket and entered through the back door.

In order to find out the truth, the police officers, led by criminal police and experts, quietly surrounded the area from different directions.

After entering the autopsy room, the perpetrator calmly dragged the body out of the formalin pool, placed it on a mobile bed beside the pool, and, as if savoring something delicious, first sniffed around the body before lowering his head and opening his mouth to gnaw on it...

At the command of the criminal investigation expert, the other police officers pulled back their guns and surrounded the area, shouting, "Hands up!"

The seemingly audacious perpetrator, upon hearing the shouts around him, was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, motionless. When the criminal investigation expert touched him, he found that the man had died.

The perpetrator was actually sleepwalking and eating the corpse. He was awakened by the police shouting and realized that he had done something horrific. He was so frightened by his own actions that he died.

Ah-Cai felt uneasy after hearing this scary story, but after listening to his mother's words, he was less panicked.

Mei Fang said that the story was just a story, and that nothing like it actually happened. It was just nonsense made up by idle people chatting over tea. Mei Fang told A Cai not to believe those stories. In fact, it wasn't just a baseless rumor; the incident of sleepwalkers biting corpses had indeed occurred. Mei Fang comforted A Cai because she didn't want her son to develop psychological problems.

4

Ah Cai's house is located south of a main street and west of a narrow alley. Entering the large living room, the north room is the master bedroom, the east room is a small single room, and to the west is a row of side rooms facing the alley. The side rooms are long and narrow, divided into two parts. The southern part is empty, and the northern part is the kitchen. There is a small passageway between the side rooms and the master bedroom. At the end of the passageway is a door leading to the backyard. The backyard used to be very large, but it has long been divided into two halves by a wall. Ah Cai's half occupies a smaller area. There is a reason for this, which is a long story that dates back to the eve of liberation.

Ah Cai's current residence is part of the original Mei family mansion. Mei Fang is the only daughter in the family, and Ah Cai's maternal grandfather is also the only son. With so few people and such a large house, it seemed a bit excessive. Later, when they urgently needed money, Ah Cai's maternal grandfather sold the backyard to a businessman.

Although the backyard was small, it had an outhouse and a storage room. There were some flower pots piled up in the corner, with flowers and plants growing on them. The wall was not high, and you could peek out into the next yard by standing on a chair.

Next door lived an elderly couple. The thin, white-haired old man often reclined in his rocking chair, engrossed in a tattered, yellowed book. The short, plump old woman chased after a flock of chickens all day. Whenever she spotted Ah Cai peeking over the wall, she would scold him, "Child, get down here! What are you looking at? Be careful you don't fall and get hurt!" The old man, always silent, wouldn't even lift his eyelids, continuing to peruse his book.

There was also an old mute living in this courtyard, but he rarely showed his face. He usually stayed in the small house by the gate, and Ah Cai never found out the mute's true identity.

Chapter Two: The Appearance of a Stranger (1)

Near Ah Cai's house, an old man selling cotton candy suddenly appeared. While working, the old man looked around suspiciously. He winked at Ah Cai and then mysteriously beckoned to him... 5

In the evening, the homeroom teacher came to visit. She taught Chinese, and her name was Yu Xiu. She was around twenty years old, with a pretty apple-shaped face and two long, thin braids. When she walked, the ribbons at the ends of her braids swayed from side to side, like a pair of playful butterflies. A-Cai not only liked Teacher Yu Xiu's appearance, but he also loved listening to her sing. She sang beautifully because her voice was so sweet. Teacher Yu's speech sounded like singing, and A-Cai loved listening to her classes the most.

As the homeroom teacher stepped into the living room, A-Cai was about to get up for breakfast. Mei Fang said she would put the food on a tray and bring it to the head of the bed so A-Cai could eat while leaning against the headboard. Ever since A-Cai entered the third grade, he liked to do everything himself. Just now, as soon as he heard Teacher Yu's voice outside, A-Cai jumped out of bed.

Mei Fang, with her sharp ears, heard Ah Cai's movements and quickly returned to Ah Cai's side, letting him sit on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, little flag bearer, what's wrong with you?" Teacher Yu's sweet and melodious voice drifted into A-Cai's heart like a spring breeze. As she spoke, she had already entered A-Cai's bedroom.

Accompanying Teacher Yu was a robust man wearing white sneakers. Teacher Yu introduced him as Teacher Tian, the school's new physical education teacher.

Ah Cai is in fourth grade and is the school's flag bearer. He's been absent from school for three days in a row, and even the principal is concerned about him. Mei Fang seems a little flustered by Ah Cai's teacher's visit. Her home rarely receives visitors, and Mei Fang isn't good at interacting with strangers. Although the homeroom teacher isn't a stranger, they rarely visit either. Generally speaking, the students the homeroom teacher visits to check on are either mischievous troublemakers or sickly students. Ah Cai doesn't belong to either category, and his absence for several days has truly worried the teacher.

Upon hearing Mei Fang's explanation that A Cai suffers from sleepwalking, Teacher Yu looked at Teacher Tian beside her with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, sleepwalking? I did that when I was little too. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night, looking around the east room, then the west room, then into the kitchen looking for something to eat. I'd eat until my mouth was greasy, without even cleaning up, and then go back to bed as if nothing had happened. The adults thought there was a big rat hiding in the house, so they'd throw rat poison around the corners. For a long time, my parents never imagined that the big rat they were trying to catch was sleeping in their own bed." Teacher Tian's humorous and slightly self-deprecating remark amused everyone.

When Ah Cai first saw Teacher Tian standing next to Teacher Yu Xiu, he felt a certain resistance because Teacher Tian looked a bit like their former physical education teacher, Liu Gongji. That Liu Gongji always seemed to be clinging to Teacher Yu, as if he wanted to be her friend. The students, especially the boys, all disapproved. Behind his back, they called that PE teacher "the roguish rooster"—a very lewd rooster!

Teacher Yu held Mei Fang's hand and chatted with A Cai's mother like a close friend. Then she took one hand and gently stroked A Cai's head: "Rest well and recover quickly. When you return to school, you will still be the flag bearer." Her tone was as if she was saying goodbye.

Ah Cai thought to himself, "I'm not sick at all. I don't know why, but I slept for three days and three nights." Several times, he wanted to tell Teacher Yu about what happened that night, but each time he met his mother's slightly uneasy gaze, so he had to retract his tongue again and again. To show that he was alright, he jumped out of bed with a thud. He wanted to go back to school as soon as possible.

"Hey, you're still not better!" Mom said, sounding like she was scolding Ah-Cai.

Teacher Yu also said, "Ah Cai, your dad isn't home, so you should listen to your mom more."

Ah Cai sighed inwardly, "Ugh, all you adults talk like that!" He glanced at Teacher Tian and saw him winking at him. This little gesture made Ah Cai think that this new PE teacher was really interesting.

Just now, while Teacher Yu and Mei Fang were talking, A-Cai noticed that Teacher Tian looked around his house several times with great interest, his expression much like a student who didn't like to listen in class looking around for something interesting during a boring lesson. When his mother saw the teachers off, A-Cai quietly got out of bed and went behind the bedroom door to peek at their departing figures. He originally wanted to see the bow on Teacher Yu's long braid, but instead saw Teacher Tian, who was at the back, curiously glancing a few more times at the side room with the attic as he was about to leave the living room.

Ah Cai couldn't help but hiss, trying to get Teacher Tian's attention: "Don't look around, someone's watching you!"

Teacher Tian suddenly turned around, put her index finger to her lips, as if to say, "Keep quiet, it's a secret."

What secret? Ah Cai thought this PE teacher was really funny.

That night, Ah-Cai started making a fuss about wanting to go to school.

"Child, you're still not well, take a few more days off to rest." Mei Fang gently stroked A Cai's face, seemingly a little worried about him.

“Mom, I’m not sick,” A-Cai said stubbornly, raising his head.

"Child, be a good boy."

Seeing that his mother was a little displeased, Ah Cai stopped arguing loudly and muttered, "I just want to go to school, I just want to go to school, I want to go to school." Actually, he was thinking about the position of flag raiser.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade her precocious son, who had a rubber-like tenacity, Mei Fang had no choice but to agree. She instructed A Cai not to tell others about his sleepwalking hallucinations, lest they laugh at him. Mei Fang seemed very serious about this.

Ah Cai glanced at his mother's expression and wondered to himself, "Am I really sleepwalking?"

6

The next morning, A-Cai arrived at school early, hoping to participate in the flag-raising ceremony. On his way to school, he kept wondering: as a flag raiser, would his movements become rusty?

It wasn't until the flag-raising ceremony began that he discovered his place had been taken. Although the school's Young Pioneers instructor told him that his place would be reinstated in a few days, Ah Cai was still unhappy.

He was sullen because the sleepwalking or strange occurrence in the middle of the night had kept him from going to school for three whole days.

When he entered the school gate again in the morning, it felt like he hadn't been to school for a long time. Seeing his classmates turning to the new lessons in their textbooks, Ah Cai felt that he had fallen far behind and had become very stupid. Missing classes was really not a good thing, he thought.

Ah Cai was sullen all morning.

Teacher Yu thought that A-Cai was still not fully recovered, and asked him with concern, "Are you still feeling a little unwell? Otherwise, don't come this afternoon." This was right after the fourth period.